Search results for: incremental continuous ant colony
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 989

Search results for: incremental continuous ant colony

419 Porous Ni and Ni-Co Electrodeposits for Alkaline Water Electrolysis – Energy Saving

Authors: I. Herraiz-Cardona, C. González-Buch, E. Ortega, V. Pérez-Herranz, J. García-Antón

Abstract:

Hydrogen is considered to be the most promising candidate as a future energy carrier. One of the most used technologies for the electrolytic hydrogen production is alkaline water electrolysis. However, due to the high energy requirements, the cost of hydrogen produced in such a way is high. In continuous search to improve this process using advanced electrocatalytic materials for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), Ni type Raney and macro-porous Ni-Co electrodes were prepared on AISI 304 stainless steel substrates by electrodeposition. The developed electrodes were characterized by SEM and confocal laser scanning microscopy. HER on these electrodes was evaluated in 30 wt.% KOH solution by means of hydrogen discharge curves and galvanostatic tests. Results show that the developed electrodes present a most efficient behaviour for HER when comparing with the smooth Ni cathode. It has been reported a reduction in the energy consumption of the electrolysis cell of about 25% by using the developed coatings as cathodes.

Keywords: Alkaline water electrolysis, energy efficiency, porous nickel electrodes

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418 Modeling the Transport of Charge Carriers in the Active Devices MESFET, Based of GaInP by the Monte Carlo Method

Authors: N. Massoum, A. Guen. Bouazza, B. Bouazza, A. El Ouchdi

Abstract:

The progress of industry integrated circuits in recent years has been pushed by continuous miniaturization of transistors. With the reduction of dimensions of components at 0.1 micron and below, new physical effects come into play as the standard simulators of two dimensions (2D) do not consider. In fact the third dimension comes into play because the transverse and longitudinal dimensions of the components are of the same order of magnitude. To describe the operation of such components with greater fidelity, we must refine simulation tools and adapted to take into account these phenomena. After an analytical study of the static characteristics of the component, according to the different operating modes, a numerical simulation is performed of field-effect transistor with submicron gate MESFET GaInP. The influence of the dimensions of the gate length is studied. The results are used to determine the optimal geometric and physical parameters of the component for their specific applications and uses.

Keywords: Monte Carlo simulation, transient electron transport, MESFET device.

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417 Urban Life on the Go: Urban Transformation of Public Space

Authors: E. Zippelius

Abstract:

Urban design aims to provide a stage for public life that, when once brought to life, is right away subject to subtle but continuous transformation. This paper explores such transformations and searches for ways how public life can be reinforced in the case of a housing settlement for the displaced in Nicosia, Cyprus. First, a sound basis of theoretical knowledge is established through literature review, notably the theory of the Production of Space by Henri Lefebvre, exploring its potential and defining key criteria for the following empirical analysis. The analysis is pinpointing the differences between spatial practice, representation of space and spaces of representation as well as their interaction, alliance, or even conflict. In doing so uncertainties, chances and challenges are unraveled that will be consequently linked to practice and action and lead to the formulation of a design strategy. A strategy, though, that does not long for achieving an absolute, finite certainty but understands the three dimensions of space formulated by Lefebvre as equal and space as continuously produced, hence, unfinished.

Keywords: Production of space, public space, urban life, urban transformation.

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416 Lateral Torsional Buckling of Steel Thin-Walled Beams with Lateral Restraints

Authors: Ivan Balázs, Jindřich Melcher

Abstract:

Metal thin-walled members have been widely used in building industry. Usually they are utilized as purlins, girts or ceiling beams. Due to slenderness of thin-walled cross-sections these structural members are prone to stability problems (e.g. flexural buckling, lateral torsional buckling). If buckling is not constructionally prevented their resistance is limited by buckling strength. In practice planar members of roof or wall cladding can be attached to thin-walled members. These elements reduce displacement of thin-walled members and therefore increase their buckling strength. If this effect is taken into static assessment more economical sections of thin-walled members might be utilized and certain savings of material might be achieved. This paper focuses on problem of determination of critical load of steel thin-walled beams with lateral continuous restraint which is crucial for lateral torsional buckling assessment.

Keywords: Beam, buckling, numerical analysis, stability, steel.

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415 Robust Nonlinear Control of Two Links Robot Manipulator and Computing Maximum Load

Authors: Hasanifard Goran, Habib Nejad Korayem Moharam, Nikoobin Amin

Abstract:

A new robust nonlinear control scheme of a manipulator is proposed in this paper which is robust against modeling errors and unknown disturbances. It is based on the principle of variable structure control, with sliding mode control (SMC) method. The variable structure control method is a robust method that appears to be well suited for robotic manipulators because it requers only bounds on the robotic arm parameters. But there is no single systematic procedure that is guaranteed to produce a suitable control law. Also, to reduce chattring of the control signal, we replaced the sgn function in the control law by a continuous approximation such as tangant function. We can compute the maximum load with regard to applied torque into joints. The effectivness of the proposed approach has been evaluated analitically demonstrated through computer simulations for the cases of variable load and robot arm parameters.

Keywords: Variable structure control, robust control, switching surface, robot manipulator.

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414 Polyethylenimine Coated Carbon Nanotube for Detecting Rancidity in Frying Oil

Authors: Vincent Lau Chun Fai, Yang Doo Lee, Kyongsoo Lee, Keun-Soo Lee, Shin-Kyung, Byeong-Kwon Ju

Abstract:

Chemical detection is still a continuous challenge when it comes to designing single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) sensors with high selectivity, especially in complex chemical environments. A perfect example of such an environment would be in thermally oxidized soybean oil. At elevated temperatures, oil oxidizes through a series of chemical reactions which results in the formation of monoacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, oxidized triacylglycerols, dimers, trimers, polymers, free fatty acids, ketones, aldehydes, alcohols, esters, and other minor products. In order to detect the rancidity of oxidized soybean oil, carbon nanotube chemiresistor sensors have been coated with polyethylenimine (PEI) to enhance the sensitivity and selectivity. PEI functionalized SWCNTs are known to have a high selectivity towards strong electron withdrawing molecules. The sensors were very responsive to different oil oxidation levels and furthermore, displayed a rapid recovery in ambient air without the need of heating or UV exposure.

Keywords: Carbon nanotubes, polyethylenimine, sensor, oxidized oil

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413 A Micro-Watt Second Order Filter for a Chopper Stabilized MEMS Pressure Sensor Interface

Authors: Arup K. George, Wai Pan Chan, Zhi Hui Kong, Minkyu Je

Abstract:

This paper describes a low-power second-order filter for a continuous-time chopper stabilized capacitive sensor interface, integrated with a fully differential post-CMOS surface-micromachined MEMS pressure sensor. The circuit uses a single-ended folded-cascode operational amplifier and two GM-C filters connected in cascade. The circuit is realized in a 0.18 μm CMOS process and offers differential to single-ended conversion. The novelty of the scheme is the cascade of two GM-C filters to achieve a second-order filter while minimizing power dissipation. The simulated filter cutoff frequency is 1.14 kHz at common-mode voltage 1.65 V, operating from a 3.3 V supply while dissipating 172μW of power. The filter achieves an operating range of 1V for an output load of 1MOhm and 10pF.

Keywords: Chopper Stabilization, MEMS, Pressure Sensors, Low Pass Filter

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412 Isolation and Screening of Fungi for Aerobic Delignification and Reduction of AOX of Pulp and Paper Mill Effluent

Authors: N. Lokeshwari, G Srinikethan, S. G. Joshi, I. Shasikala, B. Srikanth, Bashirahmed, L. Sushma

Abstract:

Water pollution is a major concern for the pulp and paper industry due to the large quantities of effluents generated. Biodegradation of industrial Lignin and AOX by a fungal isolate identified as Aspergillus flavus, white rot fungi which was isolated from Pulp and Paper effluent was studied in batch flask system with industrial effluent and synthetic solution. The flasks were operated at temperature 32°C at 200rpm for eight days in continuous mode. The average overall pH, Temperature, DO, C.O.D, T.D.S, T.S.S, Lignin, AOX were up to 4.56, 32oC, 4.2mg/l, 104mg/l, 6000 mg/l, 4000mg/l, 575.5mg/l, 2195 mg/l respectively after treatment. The Aspergillus flavus sp was the most effective in the biodegradation of Lignin of pulp industry for 94% at 480nm, AOX for 62% at 510nm and of chemical oxygen demand levels for 45% after 8 days of incubation. The optimal conditions found were 4 pH and 32oC temperature for lignin and AOX degradation.

Keywords: Aspergillus flavus, Lignin, Optimal conditions, Quantification studies.

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411 Switching Rule for the Exponential Stability and Stabilization of Switched Linear Systems with Interval Time-varying Delays

Authors: Kreangkri Ratchagit

Abstract:

This paper is concerned with exponential stability and stabilization of switched linear systems with interval time-varying delays. The time delay is any continuous function belonging to a given interval, in which the lower bound of delay is not restricted to zero. By constructing a suitable augmented Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional combined with Leibniz-Newton-s formula, a switching rule for the exponential stability and stabilization of switched linear systems with interval time-varying delays and new delay-dependent sufficient conditions for the exponential stability and stabilization of the systems are first established in terms of LMIs. Numerical examples are included to illustrate the effectiveness of the results.

Keywords: Switching design, exponential stability and stabilization, switched linear systems, interval delay, Lyapunov function, linear matrix inequalities.

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410 A Methodology for Quality Problems Diagnosis in SMEs

Authors: Humberto N. Teixeira, Isabel S. Lopes, Sérgio D. Sousa

Abstract:

This article proposes a new methodology to be used by SMEs (Small and Medium enterprises) to characterize their performance in quality, highlighting weaknesses and area for improvement. The methodology aims to identify the principal causes of quality problems and help to prioritize improvement initiatives. This is a self-assessment methodology that intends to be easy to implement by companies with low maturity level in quality. The methodology is organized in six different steps which includes gathering information about predetermined processes and subprocesses of quality management, defined based on the well-known Juran-s trilogy for quality management (Quality planning, quality control and quality improvement) and, predetermined results categories, defined based on quality concept. A set of tools for data collecting and analysis, such as interviews, flowcharts, process analysis diagrams and Failure Mode and effects Analysis (FMEA) are used. The article also presents the conclusions obtained in the application of the methodology in two cases studies.

Keywords: Continuous improvement, Diagnosis, Quality Management, Self-assessment, SMEs

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409 Dehydroxylation of Glycerol to Propylene Glycol over Cu-ZnO/Al2O3 Catalyst: Effect of Feed Purity

Authors: Thitipong Auttanat, Siriporn Jongpatiwut, Thirasak Rirksomboon

Abstract:

The catalytic dehydroxylation of glycerol to propylene glycol was investigated over Cu-ZnO/Al2O3 prepared by incipient wetness impregnation (IWI) method with different purity feedstocks - refined glycerol and technical grade glycerol. The main purpose is to investigate the effects of feed impurities that cause the catalyst deactivation. The prepared catalyst were tested for its catalytic activity and selectivity in a continuous flow fixed bed reactor at 523 K, 500 psig, H2/feed molar ratio of 4 and WHSV of 3 h-1. The results showed that conversion of refined glycerol and technical grade glycerol at time on stream 6 hour are 99% and 71% and selectivity to propylene glycol are 87% and 56% respectively. The ICP-EOS and TPO results indicated that the cause of catalyst deactivation was the amount of impurities in the feedstock. The higher amount of impurities (especially Na and K) the lower catalytic activity.

Keywords: Cu-ZnO/Al2O3, dehydroxylation, glycerol, propylene glycol,

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408 An Event Based Approach to Extract the Run Time Execution Path of BPEL Process for Monitoring QoS in the Cloud

Authors: Rima Grati, Khouloud Boukadi, Hanene Ben-Abdallah

Abstract:

Due to the dynamic nature of the Cloud, continuous monitoring of QoS requirements is necessary to manage the Cloud computing environment. The process of QoS monitoring and SLA violation detection consists of: collecting low and high level information pertinent to the service, analyzing the collected information, and taking corrective actions when SLA violations are detected. In this paper, we detail the architecture and the implementation of the first step of this process. More specifically, we propose an event-based approach to obtain run time information of services developed as BPEL processes. By catching particular events (i.e., the low level information), our approach recognizes the run-time execution path of a monitored service and uses the BPEL execution patterns to compute QoS of the composite service (i.e., the high level information).

Keywords: Monitoring of Web service composition, Cloud environment, Run-time extraction of execution path of BPEL.

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407 Technological Development and Implementation of a Robotic Arm Motioned by Programmable Logic Controller

Authors: J. G. Batista, L. J. de Bessa Neto, M. A. F. B. Lima, J. R. Leite, J. I. de Andrade Nunes

Abstract:

The robot manipulator is an equipment that stands out for two reasons: Firstly because of its characteristics of movement and reprogramming, resembling the arm; secondly, by adding several areas of knowledge of science and engineering. The present work shows the development of the prototype of a robotic manipulator driven by a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), having two degrees of freedom, which allows the movement and displacement of mechanical parts, tools, and objects in general of small size, through an electronic system. The aim is to study direct and inverse kinematics of the robotic manipulator to describe the translation and rotation between two adjacent links of the robot through the Denavit-Hartenberg parameters. Currently, due to the many resources that microcomputer systems offer us, robotics is going through a period of continuous growth that will allow, in a short time, the development of intelligent robots with the capacity to perform operations that require flexibility, speed and precision.

Keywords: Direct and inverse kinematics, Denavit-Hartenberg, microcontrollers, robotic manipulator.

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406 Hexavalent Chromium Pollution Abatement by use of Scrap Iron

Authors: Marius Gheju, Laura Cocheci

Abstract:

In this study, the reduction of Cr(VI) by use of scrap iron, a cheap and locally available industrial waste, was investigated in continuous system. The greater scrap iron efficiency observed for the first two sections of the column filling indicate that most of the reduction process was carried out in the bottom half of the column filling. This was ascribed to a constant decrease of Cr(VI) concentration inside the filling, as the water front passes from the bottom to the top end of the column. While the bottom section of the column filling was heavily passivated with secondary mineral phases, the top section was less affected by the passivation process; therefore the column filling would likely ensure the reduction of Cr(VI) for time periods longer than 216 hours. The experimental results indicate that fixed beds columns packed with scrap iron could be successfully used for the first step of Cr(VI) polluted wastewater treatment. However, the mass of scrap iron filling should be carefully estimated since it significantly affects the Cr(VI) reduction efficiency.

Keywords: hexavalent chromium, heavy metals, scrap iron, reduction capacity, wastewater treatment

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405 Evaluation of Groundwater Trend of Arsanjan Plain

Authors: Mohammad Hosein Hojati , Fardin Boustani

Abstract:

Groundwater resources in Arsanjan plain provide water for agriculture, industry, and human consumption. Continued agricultural development in this area needs to additional groundwater resources for, particularly during of drought periods, and effects on the quantity and quality of ground water available. The purpose of this study is to evaluate water level changes in the aquifer of Arsanjan plain in the Fars province in order to determine the areas of greatest depletion and the causes of depletion. In this plain, farmers and other users are pumping groundwater faster than its natural replenishment rate, causing a continuous drop in groundwater tables and depletion of this resource. In this research variation of groundwater level, their effects and ways to help control groundwater levels in aquifer of the Arsanjan plains were evaluated .Excessive exploitation of groundwater in this aquifer caused the groundwater levels fall too fast or to unacceptable levels. The average drawdown of the groundwater level in this plain were 19.66 meters during 1996 to 2003.

Keywords: Aquifer , ground water depletion, water table

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404 Exploring SSD Suitable Allocation Schemes Incompliance with Workload Patterns

Authors: Jae Young Park, Hwansu Jung, Jong Tae Kim

Abstract:

In the Solid-State-Drive (SSD) performance, whether the data has been well parallelized is an important factor. SSD parallelization is affected by allocation scheme and it is directly connected to SSD performance. There are dynamic allocation and static allocation in representative allocation schemes. Dynamic allocation is more adaptive in exploiting write operation parallelism, while static allocation is better in read operation parallelism. Therefore, it is hard to select the appropriate allocation scheme when the workload is mixed read and write operations. We simulated conditions on a few mixed data patterns and analyzed the results to help the right choice for better performance. As the results, if data arrival interval is long enough prior operations to be finished and continuous read intensive data environment static allocation is more suitable. Dynamic allocation performs the best on write performance and random data patterns.

Keywords: Dynamic allocation, NAND Flash based SSD, SSD parallelism, static allocation.

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403 Public Participation in Sustainable Urban Planning

Authors: M. P. Amado, C. V. Santos, E. B. Moura, V.G. Silva

Abstract:

Urban planning, in particular on protected landscape areas, demands an increasing role of public participation within the frame of the efficiency of sustainable planning process. The development of urban planning actions in Protected Landscape areas, as Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, should perform a methodological process that is structured over distinct sequential stages, providing the development of a continuous, interactive, integrated and participative planning. From the start of Malveira da Serra and Janes Plan process, several public participation actions were promoted, in order to involve the local agents, stakeholders and the population in the decision of specific local key issues and define the appropriate priorities within the goals and strategies previously settled. As a result, public participation encouraged an innovative process that guarantees the efficiency of sustainable urban planning and promotes a sustainable new way of living in community.

Keywords: Protected landscape areas, Public participation, Sustainable development, Sustainable planning, Urban planning.

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402 Distinguishing Innocent Murmurs from Murmurs caused by Aortic Stenosis by Recurrence Quantification Analysis

Authors: Christer Ahlstrom, Katja Höglund, Peter Hult, Jens Häggström, Clarence Kvart, Per Ask

Abstract:

It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between innocent murmurs and pathological murmurs during auscultation. In these difficult cases, an intelligent stethoscope with decision support abilities would be of great value. In this study, using a dog model, phonocardiographic recordings were obtained from 27 boxer dogs with various degrees of aortic stenosis (AS) severity. As a reference for severity assessment, continuous wave Doppler was used. The data were analyzed with recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) with the aim to find features able to distinguish innocent murmurs from murmurs caused by AS. Four out of eight investigated RQA features showed significant differences between innocent murmurs and pathological murmurs. Using a plain linear discriminant analysis classifier, the best pair of features (recurrence rate and entropy) resulted in a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 88%. In conclusion, RQA provide valid features which can be used for differentiation between innocent murmurs and murmurs caused by AS.

Keywords: Bioacoustics, murmur, phonocardiographic signal, recurrence quantification analysis.

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401 Wearable Sensing Application- Carbon Dioxide Monitoring for Emergency Personnel Using Wearable Sensors

Authors: Tanja Radu, Cormac Fay, King Tong Lau, Rhys Waite, Dermot Diamond

Abstract:

The development of wearable sensing technologies is a great challenge which is being addressed by the Proetex FP6 project (www.proetex.org). Its main aim is the development of wearable sensors to improve the safety and efficiency of emergency personnel. This will be achieved by continuous, real-time monitoring of vital signs, posture, activity, and external hazards surrounding emergency workers. We report here the development of carbon dioxide (CO2) sensing boot by incorporating commercially available CO2 sensor with a wireless platform into the boot assembly. Carefully selected commercially available sensors have been tested. Some of the key characteristics of the selected sensors are high selectivity and sensitivity, robustness and the power demand. This paper discusses some of the results of CO2 sensor tests and sensor integration with wireless data transmission

Keywords: Proetex, gas sensing, wireless, wearable sensors, carbon dioxide

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400 Hospital Based Electrocardiogram Sensor Grid

Authors: Suken Nayak, Aditya Kambli, Bharati Ingale, Gauri Shukla

Abstract:

The technological concepts such as wireless hospital and portable cardiac telemetry system require the development of physiological signal acquisition devices to be easily integrated into the hospital database. In this paper we present the low cost, portable wireless ECG acquisition hardware that transmits ECG signals to a dedicated computer.The front end of the system obtains and processes incoming signals, which are then transmitted via a microcontroller and wireless Bluetooth module. A monitoring purpose Bluetooth based end user application integrated with patient database management module is developed for the computers. The system will act as a continuous event recorder, which can be used to follow up patients who have been resuscitatedfrom cardiac arrest, ventricular tachycardia but also for diagnostic purposes for patients with arrhythmia symptoms. In addition, cardiac information can be saved into the patient-s database of the hospital.

Keywords: ECG, Bluetooth communication, monitoring application, patient database

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399 A Framework for Successful TQM Implementation and Its Effect on the Organizational Sustainability Development

Authors: Redha Elhuni, M. Munir Ahmad

Abstract:

The main purpose of this research is to construct a generic model for successful implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) in Oil sector, and to find out the effects of this model on the organizational sustainability development (OSD) performance of Libyan oil and gas companies using the structured equation modeling (SEM) approach. The research approach covers both quantitative and qualitative methods. A questionnaire was developed in order to identify the quality factors that are seen by Libyan oil and gas companies to be critical to the success of TQM implementation. Hypotheses were developed to evaluate the impact of TQM implementation on O SD. Data analysis reveals that there is a significant positive effect of the TQM implementation on OSD. 24 quality factors are found to be critical and absolutely essential for successful TQM implementation. The results generated a structure of the TQMSD implementation framework based on the four major road map constructs (Top management commitment, employee involvement and participation, customer-driven processes, and continuous improvement culture).

Keywords: TQM, CQFs, Oil & Gas, OSD, Libya.

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398 Hand Hygiene Habits of Ghanaian Youths in Accra, Ghana

Authors: Timothy B. Oppong, Haiyan Yang, Cecilia Amponsem-Boateng, Guangcai Duan

Abstract:

The human palm has been identified as one of the richest habitats for human microbial accommodation making hand hygiene essential to primary prevention of infection. Since the hand is in constant contact with fomites which have been proven to be mostly contaminated, building hand hygiene habits is essential for the prevention of infection. This research was conducted to assess the hand hygiene habits of Ghanaian youths in Accra. This study used a survey as a quantitative method of research. The findings of the study revealed that out of the 254 participants who fully answered the questionnaire, 22% had the habit of washing their hands after outings while only 51.6% had the habit of washing their hands after using the bathroom. However, about 60% of the participants said they sometimes ate with their hands while 28.9% had the habit of eating with the hand very often, a situation that put them at risk of infection from their hands since some participants had poor handwashing habits; prompting the need for continuous education on hand hygiene.

Keywords: Hand hygiene, hand hygiene habits, hand washing, hand sanitizer use.

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397 Association of Overweight and Obesity with Breast Cancer

Authors: Amir Ghasemlouei, Alireza Khalaj

Abstract:

Breast cancer is in the top rate of cancer. We analyzed the prevalence of obesity and its association with breast cancer and finally we reviewed 25 article that 320 patient and 320 control which enrolled to our study. The distribution of breast cancer patients and controls with respect to their anthropometric indices in patients with higher weight, which was statistically significant (60.2 ± 10.2 kg) compared with control group (56.1 ± 11.3 kg). The body mass index of patients was (26.06+/-3.42) and significantly higher than the control group (24.1+/-1.7). Obesity leads to increased levels of adipose tissue in the body that can be stored toxins and carcinogens to produce a continuous supply. Due to the high level of fat and the role of estrogen in a woman which is endogenous estrogen of the tumor and regulates the activities of growth steroids, obesity has confirmed as a risk factor for breast cancer. Our study and other studies have shown that obesity is a risk factor for breast cancer. And it can be prevented with a weight loss intervention for breast cancer in the future.

Keywords: Breast cancer, review study, obesity, overweight.

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396 Research and Development of Intelligent Cooling Channels Design System

Authors: Q. Niu, X. H. Zhou, W. Liu

Abstract:

The cooling channels of injection mould play a crucial role in determining the productivity of moulding process and the product quality. It’s not a simple task to design high quality cooling channels. In this paper, an intelligent cooling channels design system including automatic layout of cooling channels, interference checking and assembly of accessories is studied. Automatic layout of cooling channels using genetic algorithm is analyzed. Through integrating experience criteria of designing cooling channels, considering the factors such as the mould temperature and interference checking, the automatic layout of cooling channels is implemented. The method of checking interference based on distance constraint algorithm and the function of automatic and continuous assembly of accessories are developed and integrated into the system. Case studies demonstrate the feasibility and practicality of the intelligent design system.

Keywords: Injection mould, cooling channel, automatic layout, interference checking.

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395 Carbide Structure and Fracture Toughness of High Speed Tool Steels

Authors: Jung-Ho Moon, Tae Kwon Ha

Abstract:

In the present study, M2 high speed steels were fabricated by using electro-slag rapid remelting process. Carbide structure was analysed and the fracture toughness and hardness were also measured after austenitization treatment at 1190 and 1210oC followed by tempering treatment at 535oC for billets with various diameters from 16 to 60 mm. Electro-slag rapid remelting (ESRR) process is an advanced ESR process combined by continuous casting and successfully employed in this study to fabricate a sound M2 high speed ingot. Three other kinds of commercial M2 high speed steels, produced by traditional method, were also analysed for comparison. Distribution and structure of eutectic carbides of the ESRR billet were found to be comparable to those of commercial alloy and so was the fracture toughness.

Keywords: High speed tool steel, eutectic carbide, microstructure, hardness, fracture toughness.

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394 Sampling of Variables in Discrete-Event Simulation using the Example of Inventory Evolutions in Job-Shop-Systems Based on Deterministic and Non-Deterministic Data

Authors: Bernd Scholz-Reiter, Christian Toonen, Jan Topi Tervo, Dennis Lappe

Abstract:

Time series analysis often requires data that represents the evolution of an observed variable in equidistant time steps. In order to collect this data sampling is applied. While continuous signals may be sampled, analyzed and reconstructed applying Shannon-s sampling theorem, time-discrete signals have to be dealt with differently. In this article we consider the discrete-event simulation (DES) of job-shop-systems and study the effects of different sampling rates on data quality regarding completeness and accuracy of reconstructed inventory evolutions. At this we discuss deterministic as well as non-deterministic behavior of system variables. Error curves are deployed to illustrate and discuss the sampling rate-s impact and to derive recommendations for its wellfounded choice.

Keywords: discrete-event simulation, job-shop-system, sampling rate.

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393 Model of Continuous Cheese Whey Fermentation by Candida Pseudotropicalis

Authors: Rudy Agustriyanto, Akbarningrum Fatmawati

Abstract:

The utilization of cheese whey as a fermentation substrate to produce bio-ethanol is an effort to supply bio-ethanol demand as a renewable energy. Like other process systems, modeling is also required for fermentation process design, optimization and plant operation. This research aims to study the fermentation process of cheese whey by applying mathematics and fundamental concept in chemical engineering, and to investigate the characteristic of the cheese whey fermentation process. Steady state simulation results for inlet substrate concentration of 50, 100 and 150 g/l, and various values of hydraulic retention time, showed that the ethanol productivity maximum values were 0.1091, 0.3163 and 0.5639 g/l.h respectively. Those values were achieved at hydraulic retention time of 20 hours, which was the minimum value used in this modeling. This showed that operating reactor at low hydraulic retention time was favorable. Model of bio-ethanol production from cheese whey will enhance the understanding of what really happen in the fermentation process.

Keywords: Cheese whey, ethanol, fermentation, modeling.

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392 What Factors Contributed to the Adaptation Gap during School Transition in Japan?

Authors: What Factors Contributed to the Adaptation Gap during School Transition in Japan?

Abstract:

The present study was aimed to examine the structure of children’s adaptation during school transition and to identify a commonality and dissimilarity at the elementary and junior high school. 1,983 students in the 6th grade and 2,051 students in the 7th grade were extracted by stratified two-stage random sampling and completed the ASSESS that evaluated the school adaptation from the view point of ‘general satisfaction’, ‘teachers’ support’, ‘friends’ support’, ‘anti-bullying relationship’, ‘prosocial skills’, and ‘academic adaptation’. The 7th graders tend to be worse adaptation than the 6th graders. A structural equation modeling showed the goodness of fit for each grades. Both models were very similar but the 7th graders’ model showed a lower coefficient at the pass from ‘teachers’ support’ to ‘friends’ support’. The role of ‘teachers’ support’ was decreased to keep a good relation in junior high school. We also discussed how we provide a continuous assistance for prevention of the 7th graders’ gap.

Keywords: School transition, social support, psychological adaptation, K-12.

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391 Optimal Placement and Sizing of SVC for Load Margin Improvement Using BF Algorithm

Authors: Santi Behera, M. Tripathy, J. K. Satapathy

Abstract:

Power systems are operating under stressed condition due to continuous increase in demand of load. This can lead to voltage instability problem when face additional load increase or contingency. In order to avoid voltage instability suitable size of reactive power compensation at optimal location in the system is required which improves the load margin. This work aims at obtaining optimal size as well as location of compensation in the 39- bus New England system with the help of Bacteria Foraging and Genetic algorithms. To reduce the computational time the work identifies weak candidate buses in the system, and then picks only two of them to take part in the optimization. The objective function is based on a recently proposed voltage stability index which takes into account the weighted average sensitivity index is a simpler and faster approach than the conventional CPF algorithm. BFOA has been found to give better results compared to GA.

Keywords: BFOA, GA, SSVSL, WASI.

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390 Monitoring of Water Pollution and Its Consequences: An Overview

Authors: N. Singh, N. Sharma, J. K. Katnoria

Abstract:

Water a vital component for all living forms is derived from variety of sources, including surface water (rivers, lakes, reservoirs and ponds) and ground water (aquifers). Over the years of time, water bodies are subjected to human interference regularly resulting in deterioration of water quality. Therefore, pollution of water bodies has become matter of global concern. As the water quality closely relate to human health, water analysis before usage is of immense importance. Improper management of water bodies can cause serious problems in availability and quality of water. The quality of water may be described according to their physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics. For effective maintenance of water quality through appropriate control measures, continuous monitoring of metals, physico-chemical and biological parameter is essential for the establishment of baseline data for the water quality in any study area. The present study has focused on to explore the status of water pollution in various areas and to estimate the magnitude of its toxicity using different bioassay.

Keywords: Genotoxicity, Heavy metals, Mutagenicity, Physico-chemical analysis.

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